The Borrowed Boyfriend (15 page)

Grady set his water glass on the counter by the kitchen sink, observing the small cove ringed by rocky shores and the tall white-capped waves that swept toward the house. Even with the cottage windows shut, he could hear them crashing melodically against the shore. It was gusty out today, with wind whipping through the sea grass, bowing it sideways. He cast his gaze toward the lighthouse, looking for Allison. He spotted the small speck of her scaling an enormous boulder. Then, suddenly, she was gone. Grady tightly shut his eyes, then opened them again, wanting to be sure of what he’d seen. He leaned toward the window and peered north with all his might, willing an image of Allison to appear.

Grady’s heart pounded in his throat.
 

She’d fallen over the edge.

Without thinking of his jacket, Grady banged open the kitchen door and raced for the beach. In seconds, he was tearing along the rocky terrain that led toward the lighthouse and calling her name. Yet nothing came back to him but the fierce pounding of the surf.

Chapter Twenty

Allison was falling, falling…plummeting toward the sea in a frightful rush, icy winds swallowing her up as she kicked and flailed her arms, desperately trying to reach something…
anything! There!
Her left palm slammed into an outcropping as her right hand made purchase with a gnarly branch. No! It was the narrow trunk of a tree forcing its way out between two boulders, its spindly bare limbs fracturing the sun. Allison’s heart thudded as she clung for dear life, teetering forty feet above the ocean, where a deadly embankment of rocks threatened to tear her apart. She’d never survive the fall.

Allison’s palms grew slick as her feet dangled below her. She had to hold on—and find a way to pull herself up. Her overextended arms were burning from supporting her weight and felt as though they might snap apart at any minute, and her left hand was sliding…losing its grip on the moss-covered ledge. She couldn’t support her weight with one arm alone. She’d need to move her left hand over and use both to grip the tree. Allison squinted against the sunlight and questioned whether the sapling could hold her. But what choice did she have?

She heard her name in the distance. Was it her imagination, or…

“Allison!”
 

Grady!
She attempted to shout, but fear strangled her cries. Just like in the most horrific nightmare, Allison worked her mouth and couldn’t scream. She summoned her courage and willed her voice to work. A short syllable scraped from her throat, gravelly and unintelligible. “Gray...” He’d never hear her. Not above the wind.
 

Hot tears blistered her eyes as she heard her name again.
No, not this.
Her left hand slid suddenly on the ledge and she clawed at the earth, digging in with her fingers. She had to grab the tree…get both hands around it. But she was too weak to hold on with just her right hand while she made the effort. Trying could mean certain death.

Sobs racked her body, threatening her hold and causing her arms to strain harder.
I’m not going to make it.
Fear seized her heart.
This is it.
 

Allison unexpectedly thought of her mother and instantly felt cradled in her arms. It was like her mom was telling her to hang on, that this wasn’t her time. Strength surged through her and Allison tightened her right-handed grasp on the tree. In a flash, she jerked her left hand off the outcropping and slammed it toward the tree.
Wham!
Bark burned against her palm as she clamped the fingers of her left hand around the trunk, just above her right hand, frantically holding on.
 

Next, she found her voice. “Grady!” The words wrenched from her throat. “Down here!”

Allison heard rapid footfalls approach, then skid to a halt. A torrent of pebbles cascaded toward her, and she quickly turned her head as they bounced off the rocky ledge. Then Grady was staring down at her, hands perched on his knees, his eyes rapidly assessing the situation as he caught his breath. “Allison,” he said, keeping his voice steady. “Hold on.”

Allison released a ragged cry. Her elbows ached and her fingertips felt prickly, like they were losing sensation. “I don’t think I can. Much longer.”
 

“Don’t let go. I’m coming down to get you.”

“Grady, no!” Her voice echoed off the side of the cliff. “The shelf! It will give way!”

He glanced to the left and then the right, before setting his gaze back on her. “It’s the only chance we have. There isn’t any time.”

“Then we’ll both die.”

“Not if I get you to safety first.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Grady set his lips in a hard line and assessed the situation. The outcropping was five feet below the main path, so if he got to Allison he could hoist her up. It would be tougher for him to make it without anyone giving him a boost, but he was tall enough to reach the upper rim of the cliff—if he could only find something to hold onto. He spied the spiky edge of a large boulder that appeared embedded in the earth. A piece of it had broken off, leaving a rocky sheath he could use as a handle. Grady tested his grip against it, trying with all his might to dislodge the cut stone, but it held steady. It wasn’t ideal, but it was something. He also thought he’d be able to reach it from the outcropping.

But first, it was going to have to help support him on the way down, or else he risked falling himself and tumbling straight into the ocean. Or worse, he could land too hard on the outcropping and the sudden shock could send the entire thing plummeting. Even if he took it easy, Allison was right…their combined weight could cause the outcropping to collapse. But there wasn’t another soul in sight and Grady was out of options. He had to use what he had.

Grady’s earlier plans and the real reason he’d come here seemed inconsequential. Being successful in business meant nothing compared to this. All that mattered was protecting Allison from serious harm.
 

Her grasp seemed to slip on the tree and she shrieked as it bowed toward her. Her holding on wasn’t the only problem. The tree trunk itself could snap in two.

The second he’d thought it, he heard a bone-chilling
crack.

The narrow tree trunk collapsed against the outcropping and Allison’s grasp slid further toward the top of the tree, which now darted past the crown of her head and extended over the ocean. “Ahh!”

Allison’s lips trembled as she locked on his gaze. “Grady…”

Grady had to go
now.

“Don’t move!” he commanded. He gripped the rocky sheath with his right hand and stabilized his descent with his left, gingerly setting his shoes down one at a time on the portion of the outcropping that most closely abutted the cliff. There; he was steady. His full weight was on the outcropping and it hadn’t given way, but he still had to reach Allison and he had nothing to hold on to. If he shifted the bulk of his weight in her direction, the outer edge of the outcropping might break off, sending them both to an untimely death.

Allison sucked in a breath, then spoke, her voice warbling. “My hands…are…burning. I can’t…feel my…fingers.”

Grady got an idea. He’d lie down on the outcropping to more evenly distribute his weight. Anything was worth a shot. “I’m coming to get you.”

“No! It’s too late.” She looked like she was giving up.
 

Not on his watch, she wasn’t.
 

Grady deftly got down on his knees and lowered himself onto his belly, extending an arm in her direction. The tree trunk teetered beyond him, three or four inches away. If he could grab the section where it had bent forward and gently swing it toward him, he might just reach her. “Allison, I need you to listen to me. I’m going to have to move the tree trunk.”

“Move it? No!”
 

“It’s going to happen really quickly, so I need you to stay with me.”

“Grady! You can’t! I’ll fall!”

“I’m going to grab you.”

Her eyes widened in panic. “What if you miss?”

Slowly, he inched toward her. “I won’t.”

Her chin trembled. “I don’t think—”

“Allison!” he barked fiercely. “Do you trust me?”

“No!”

“Not in business. With your life.”

She blanched, then said softly, “You’re not giving me a choice.”

“You got that part right.” He shifted his left shoulder and grabbed the tree trunk just above where it had bent. “We’re just going to take it easy.”

Allison appeared as if she might faint.

“I need you to stay with me. Hold on tight and tell me number seven.”

“What?”

“All those terrible things you think about me. You only gave me six.”

Almost imperceptibly, the tree trunk began to move in his hand, swinging toward him. “Come on,” he forced a grin. “I know you can do better than that.”

“You’re a lunatic!” she screamed, but she appeared to tighten her hold.

“Good. That’s seven. Now, what’s number eight?”

Just half an inch more and he had her.

“I hate you!”

“No, you don’t.” Grady’s right hand clamped onto her wrist, and his heart stuttered. “Allison,” he told her, “When I say
go,
we’re going to rock and roll.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You’re going to let go of that tree and grab on to me.”

“How do you know I won’t pull you over the edge?”

“Because I’m stronger than you and outweigh you by seventy pounds. Plus, the second I’ve got you, we’re heading that way.” He motioned with his chin. “I’m pulling you up and on top of me then we’re rolling toward the cliff where the earth is steadier. Are you ready?”

“No!”

The outer edge of the outcropping started to crumble.

“It’s now or never, Allison.”

“Okay!”

“Go!”

Grady whipped his other hand around and firmly gripped her wrist, so he held both her wrists in his grasp. Allison shrieked and jerked her left hand off the tree, clawing into Grady’s wrist. But her other hand still had a death grip on the sapling.

“Allison!” He gritted his teeth against the strain as rocks plummeted around them. “Let go of the tree!”

Horror flashed across her face. “Don’t let me go.”

“Never.”

The fingers of her right hand left the tree and found his forearm. Allison wailed in terror as her grasp slid. Adrenaline pumped through him and Allison’s body quaked. “Ready?” he asked with a labored breath.

She gulped in air and nodded.

Grady clenched his abs and hauled her toward him, flipping onto his back and pinning her against his chest. In a flash, he rolled them over, holding Allison fast in his arms, and slammed them toward the cliff wall. The edge of the outcropping gave way, and the tree that had been Allison’s lifeline plummeted into the waves.

The back of Allison’s head smacked the dirt as she came down hard, Grady ramming into her. “You okay?” His voice was husky and his strong forearms nestled beneath her.

Allison’s pulse pounded in her ears and her mouth went dry. “Yes. Yes, I think so.”

“Good,” he said, “because it’s not over yet.”

Allison stared at the edge of the outcropping, which was breaking apart and free-falling toward the ocean in rock-laden chunks, and her panic spiked.

“We’re going to take this nice and slow,” Grady said, carefully easing off of her and standing. He checked something near the top of the cliff, then held out his hand. “Don’t make any sudden moves, but see if you can try standing.”

Allison nodded, still in shock, and pushed herself up on her hands and knees, her limbs trembling violently. Grady held out his hand and she took it as he pulled her to her feet. He motioned to the top of the cliff. “See that pointy rock up there?” Grady asked her. “It’s sturdy. You can use it to help pull yourself up.”

She knitted her brow and stammered, “I’m going to have to c…c….climb?”

“I’m going to give you a boost.” The earth rumbled and the sound of rocks breaking rose above the churning noise of the ocean. “Like right about—
now
!”

The outcropping was rapidly disintegrating, exposing more of the horrific landing site below. Grady formed a stirrup by interlocking his hands and Allison quickly stepped into it. “Keep your hands against the side of the cliff to stay steady. Let me know when you’ve grabbed the rock!”

He hoisted her up another few feet and Allison lunged forward. “Got it!”

“Great! Then let’s get you out of here.”

He gave her a final push and she scrambled onto the path.

Grady’s eyes panned the terrifying panorama of ocean, boulders and falling rocks as the outcropping shrank toward him.
 

Allison yelped with alarm.
“Grady!”

Grady thrust his hands skyward, tightening his grip around the jagged rock, then he scaled the side of the cliff just as the final stretch of outcropping collapsed beneath his feet.
 

Chapter Twenty-Two

Grady fixed Allison a mug of coffee and carried it to her where she sat on the sofa. While the coffee was brewing, he’d started a fire and draped a throw blanket over Allison’s shoulders. She was still shivering from their horrid ordeal. “Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor?” he asked worriedly.